Antiseptic pencil or pen holder.



No. 648,928. Patented May a, 1900.

J. W. DAVIS. ANTISEPTIG PENCIL 0B PEN HOLDER.

(Application area Jan. 16, 1899.)

(No Model.)

Ill

9 WITNESSES 5" INVENTOH 44 21 Ml- 2: W By ATTORNEY E m: "oas s PETERS 00-. momuma. wgsmuu I UNITED STATES JOHN W. DAVIS, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.,

ASSIGNOR TO ARTHUR G. LEONARD,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ANTISEPTIC PENCIL OR PEN HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 648,928, dated May 8, 1900.

Application filed January 16, 1899. Serial No. 702,245. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN W. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Antiseptic Pencil or Pen Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices used in schools, 00., for the purpose of holding pencils or pens.

' In order to prevent the spread of contagious disease, it has been customary to assign a pen or pencil to a scholar, who shall retain the same for his own personal use. To carry out this scheme, a holder has been employed which comprises a board, disk, or. the like provided with a series of numbered apertures into which the pencils or pens previously in use have been inserted, thereby isolating them from each other, each scholar having a number assigned to him, the aperture designated by which is to contain his pencil or pen as long as it is in use. This device, however, has been found to be inefficientfor the purpose of preventing the spread of contagious disease, owing to the fact that although thepencilor pens were separated physically from each other their close juxtaposition and the board in which they were held either or both provided a ready avenue through which the spread of contagious germs could take place.

One of the most frequent causes of the spread .of contagion flows'from the habit of the scholar placing the point of the pencil in his mouth, transferring the disease germ to the pencil-point, which then spreads over the entire pencil and when placed in the holder the mechanical connection thus formed between them permitting its further spreading.

One of the objects of my invention is not only to negative the probable or actual septic condition of the pen or pencil, but to treat it at the part most liable to infection-namely, at the point--although either end can be equally treated. To secure these objects, among others, which it is not necessary here to enumerate, I providea device in which the apertured board or disk is present, but which is combined with a chamber provided with an antiseptic material either in liquid or vapor form or preferably placed in an absorbent pad from which the fumes or vapor of the antiseptic material can rise into the chamber and with which the point of the-pencil or end of the pen can be contacted during which time the pencil or pen is retained in the numbered aperture 'in the holder. p

My invention further comprehends the details of construction of the preferred form of device .described herein and further pointed out in the claims,

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of my invention, which includes a removable plate carrying an absorbent pad, the latter being shown as partly withdrawn. .Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the'line 2 2, Fig. 1.

Similar numerals of reference indicate like spect s with the board, disk, &e., previously referred to, andwhich top piece is provided with a series of apertures 3, provided either with alternate or consecutive numbering, the former being shown in Fig. 1. The top'piece 2, together with the side and end pieces 4 5 and bottom 6, forms a box or chamber 7, into which the pencil or pen 8 projects. The bottom 6 ispreferably made so as to be capable of removal or insertion at will,'for which purpose the side pieces 4 of the box are grooved near their lower edges, as at 9, to receive the edges 10 of the slidable bottom 6, the bottom piece 6 being provided at the front with a striker-plate 11, adapted to be moved into the front recess 12, formed in the lower front angle of the box and which is of sufficient height to allow of the free passage of a pad of felt or other like absorbent material 13, which is preferably, though not essentially, fixed to the inner surface of the bottom piece 6, the plate 11 having a pull 14.

By applying a disinfecting or antiseptic material to the pad 13 (which may be removable, so as to allow of incorporating the material therein or placing it thereon byimmersion, sprinkling, or the like) a disinfecting medium is formed either by the fumes or vapors which may arise and pass into the chamber 7 or by the contact of the end of the pencil or pen with the pad, the latter being preferably of elastic material to allow the end of the pencil or pen to embed itself, or the vapors may pass through the apertures totreat the upper portion of the pen or pencil, so that while the pencils are out of use and held in the holder the process of disinfection is going on, which will prevent, although the pencils, &c.,- are mechanically connected intermediate their ends, the spread of contagion from one to the other.

The particular shape of the'box or its dimensions form no part of my invention, nor is it to be limited thereby, nor the character of material of which it is to be constructed; but as to the latter I prefer to use wood or some relatively-absorbent material for manifest reasons. the box-of sufficient depth to form a stable support for the pen or'pencil intermediate its ends and of a height suitable for the re'gulation of the length to which the. pencil is to be consumed, as it is not desirable to keep the pencil in usetoo' long.

From the foregoing it is clear that many of the beneficial features of myinvention canbe utilized in a device differing in details of construction from that shown herein-as, for instance, the pad 13 may be dispensed with and the antiseptic material held in the chamber either in a solid or liquid formand it is not essential'that the bottom 6 be present or slidable, as any other means of gaining access to the-chamber 7 may be employed, all

without departing from the spirit of my in,- Vention which has been set forth. I

I' claim Further, I desire to construct Also the felt pad secures the pencil or pen in the holder free from vibration.

operative alinement with said perforations, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a perforated receiving board, disk, or plate, of a body of elastic and absorbent material held in operative juxtaposition to and below said board, to receive the ends of pens or pencils, said pad containing a disinfectant, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a perforated receiving board, disk, or plate, of an inclosed chamber into-which said apertures lead, and a pad of absorbent material in said chamber opposed to the perforations,substan tially'as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a perforated receiving board, disk, or plate, of an inclosed chamber into which said apertures lead, a movable section, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the box or receptacle, having the perforated top 2, and slidable bottom 6, and the pad 13 on said bottom, substant-ially as described.

6. The combination of the box or receptacle, having .the perforated top 2, the sides 4 ofwhich have grooves 9 formed therein, the bottom 6 slidable in said grooves, and a pad 13 on said bottom, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the box or receptacle having the perforated top 2, the sides i of which have grooves 9 formed therein, the bottom 6 slidable in said grooves, a recess bein g formed in the lower front angle of the box, a striker-plate 12 secured to said bottom and adapted to lie in said recess, and apad 13 on said bottom, both the pad and bottom being adapted to pass through said recess, substan- I tially as described. 1. In a device of the kind described, the

Signed in the city, county, and State of New York this 14th day of January, 1899.

JOHN W.,DAv1s.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH L. LEVY, WILLIA JACOBSEN. 

